Originally Posted by
Superguy
Looks like Kippie put on some weight.
He's still an Idiot.
...
I also find it interesting that he now things a trusted traveler type program is a good thing now considering how he dragged his feet about implementing one on his watch.
How desperate does Pistole have to be to get Kip out of hiding to come write this kind of garbage on his behalf?
I, too, call BS on the whole premise. For example:
Originally Posted by KHIAI
Last Thanksgiving, Administrator John Pistole was handed the hot potato of intelligence briefings about al Qaeda suicide bombers trying to penetrate the aviation system with non-metallic bombs hidden on the body.
Thanksgiving is at the END of November. The intrusive patdowns started in late Oct/early Nov, and there was a
thread foreshadowing "big changes" as early as October 8. And they didn't need "intelligence briefings about ... non-metallic bombs" when they had Underwear Guy the Christmas before as a useful excuse.
Hawley goes on to claim (his "first" and "second" points) that the program will use data already available to CBP; I see how that works for the GE/Nexus crowd but the pilot also included airline FFs. There must be (some/many?) US-based frequent flyers who (never/rarely?) travel overseas, so CBP has (no/little) information on them. Either this program, when full-blown, with only be available to GE/Nexus members (which might be a ploy for getting more people to sign up?) or they'll have to use personal data beyond that available to CBP. Hawley hedges his first two points with "
Maybe security clearances are next..." and "The proof is in the details,..."
He further claims that "Some -- including, I believe, John Pistole and many of the front-line officers -- want more thinking and less rote implementation of a checklist." Uh, yeah, that's why they've been removing adult diapers and making people say their names out loud: more thinking. Sure.
And finally:
Originally Posted by the Kipster
Anybody can bludgeon the many shortcomings and foibles at TSA, and there will be plenty more opportunities in the future.
At last, Kip and I agree on something.
I believe that they've been aiming for a so-called "Trusted Traveler" program (= "Give us all your personal information, pay an annual fee, and we'll let you skip things that we know are pointless anyway, like the shoe removal and liquid limits. Foreign citizens need not apply."). If they had simply introduced that in, say, 2006, they would have faced a backlash from privacy advocates and others. Instead, they've made the process so invasive for so many, creating the current media storm of criticism, that such a program will be welcomed as "relief" by far too many. And by the time the sheep realize the program is a fraud, it will be too late.